This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2015) |
Tages | |
---|---|
![]() Tages in 1965; from left to right: Anders Töpel, Danne Larsson, Göran Lagerberg, Freddie Skantze and Tommy Blom | |
Background information | |
Also known as | Blond |
Origin | Gothenburg, Sweden |
Genres | |
Years active | 1963–1969 |
Labels | |
Past members |
|
Website | tages |
Tages were a Swedish rock band formed in Gothenburg in 1963. The group, whose original line-up consisted of Tommy Blom, Göran Lagerberg, Danne Larsson, Anders Töpel and Freddie Skantze, were one of the most successful Swedish bands of the 1960s. They achieved thirteen top-20 singles on Kvällstoppen, such as "Sleep Little Girl", "I Should Be Glad", "In My Dreams", and "Miss Mac Baren", as well as having two albums certified gold, Tages (1965) and Tages 2 (1966).
Tages began their recording career as a beat band, heavily influenced and inspired by the Beatles. Initially, the group garnered much criticism from other musicians, who considered them inexperienced. This led to them quickly developing as a group, drawing influences from British mod artists, specifically Small Faces, and like them, were the center of Swedish male fashion from 1965 onward. The band would cover songs from virtually unknown artists in Sweden, such as John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon and Muddy Waters, but also from competitors, such as the Everly Brothers, the Easybeats and Small Faces.
Between 1965 and 1967, Tages managed to record five studio albums, including Extra Extra (1966), which was among the first psychedelic rock albums recorded. During the later part of their career, Tages pioneered a genre of music, combining elements of Swedish folk music with contemporary rock music. In doing so, the group recorded their final studio album, simply titled Studio (1967), which solely contains original material and has often times been considered among the best Swedish albums of the 1960s. In mid-late 1968, Blom departed the band, after which they renamed themselves Blond. After a line-up change leaving Lagerberg the only original member left, they released one album, The Lilac Years, on the Fontana label in 1969.